Abolishing Nuclear Arms

The failure of the nuclear weapons states to uphold their clear obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to move expeditiously to eliminate their lethal arsenals is especially egregious given accumulating evidence that even a regional nuclear conflict can result in devastating global climate impacts, including widespread famine from collapsing food production.

In contrast, by the close of the United Nations conference on the treaty last month, 107 of the world’s nations had responded to this profound threat to human survival by endorsing the “humanitarian pledge” recently issued by the Austrian government to work for the speedy elimination and prohibition of nuclear weapons.

If our government takes President Obama’s 2009 Prague pledge to work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons seriously, it should begin to demonstrate true leadership by embracing this important global disarmament movement.

A good beginning would be to rescind our planned 30-year, $1 trillion nuclear weapons modernization program, which will surely contribute to the continued devastation of our social fabric while moving us closer to the flash point of planetary annihilation.

ROBERT M. GOULD

San Francisco

The writer is immediate past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility.